2021 in science

• 10 July - Scientists report in a preprint the discovery of long extrachromosomal DNA structures, they call borgs, which appear to incorporate genes from organisms they encounter. These structures, which could turn out to be an unknown form of giant viruses or "giant linear plasmids", co-occur with a species of archaeon which may host them, shares many of their genes, whose main chromosome is only three times larger and whose capacity for anaerobic oxidation of methane as well as other biological functions – such as production of proteins – the borgs may augment.
• 12 July - Scientists report in a preprint that the viral load in the first positive test of infections with the SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant was on average ~1000 times higher than with compared infections during 2020.
• 14 July
• * Researchers report finding the Earliest known [life forms|earliest known fossil life] on Earth, in the form of "putative filamentous microfossils", possibly of methanogens and/or methanotrophs, that lived about 3.42-billion-year-old in "a paleo-subseafloor hydrothermal vein system of the Barberton greenstone belt in South Africa."
• * Astronomers report the detection, for the first time, of an isotope in the atmosphere of an exoplanet. In specific, the isotope Carbon-13 was found in the atmosphere of a gas giant exoplanet named TYC 8998-760-1 b.
• * Researchers used a brain-computer interface to enable a man who was paralyzed since 2003 to produce comprehensible words and sentences by decoding signals from electrodes in the speech areas of his brain.
• * Researchers describe effects of deforestation and climate change in a transformation of Amazonia from carbon sink to carbon source.
• 15 July - Scientists report that the Chicxulub impactor likely was an outer main-belt asteroid, a carbonaceous chondrite C-type asteroid.
• 16 July
• * Recently thought subglacial lakes under the Southern Polar cap of Mars based on a 2018 MARSIS measurement could also be clay minerals and frozen brine.
• * Japan achieves a new world record Internet speed over ~3.000 km: 319 Tbit/s, beating a previous record of 178 Tbit/s.
• * A study concludes only 1.5-7 % of "regions" of the modern human genome to be specific to modern humans. These regions have neither been altered by archaic hominin DNA due to admixture with modern humans|admixture] nor are shared with Neanderthals or Denisovans according to their used genomic datasets. They also found two bursts of changes specific to modern human genomes which involve genes related to brain development and function.
• * A study using whole-genome resequencing indicates that Cannabis sativa was first domesticated about 12,000 years ago in the early Neolithic period in East Asia, with the results being consistent with a single domestication origin.
• 18 July - Journalists and researchers report the discovery of spyware, called "Pegasus", developed and distributed by a private company which can and has widely been used to infect iOS and Android smartphones often – partly based on 0-day exploits – without the need for any user-interaction or significant clues to the user and then be used to exfiltrate data, track user locations, capture film through its camera, and activate the microphone at any time.

• 19 July
• * Researchers review 217 analyses of on-the-market products and services as well as existing alternatives to mainstream food, holidays, and furnishings, and conclude that total greenhouse gas emissions by Swedes could be lowered by to date up to 36–38 % if consumers – without a decrease in total estimated expenditure or considerations of self-interest rationale – instead were to obtain those they could assess to be more sustainable.
• * Researchers report that higher exposure to woodland urban green spaces is associated with improved cognitive development and risks of mental problems for urban 15-16 years old adolescents.
• * Scientists report that wild pigs are causing soil disturbance that, among other problems, globally results in annual carbon dioxide emissions equivalent to that of ~1.1 million passenger vehicles, implying that wild pig meat – unlike other meat products – has beneficial effects on the environment.
• 20 July
• * Researchers conclude that a previously rejected abiotic origin of phosphine concentrations on Venus reported in September 2020 – high rates of active plume volcanism – could be plausible.
• * A scientific review concludes that, except for poultry, at 50 g/day unprocessed red and processed meat appear to be risk factors for ischemic heart disease.
• * Scientists report that worldwide adolescent loneliness and depression increased substantially after 2012 and that loneliness in contemporary schools appears to be associated with smartphone access and Internet use.
• 22 July
• * Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimetre/submillimeter Array report the first clear detection of a moon-forming disc around an exoplanet; in this case, the Jupiter-like planet PDS 70c.
• * DeepMind announces that its AlphaFold AI has predicted the structures of over 350,000 proteins, including 98.5% of the ~20,000 proteins in the human body. The 3D data along with their degrees of confidence for accuracy is made freely available with a new database, doubling the previous number of protein structures in the public domain.
• 26 July
• * The Galileo Project, headed by Avi Loeb, is launched. The project seeks to gather and report scientific evidence of extraterrestrials or extraterrestrial technology – such as of UFOs/UAP with alien origins – on or near Earth via telescope technology.
• * Scientists report to have created the first complete neuron-level-resolution 3D map of a monkey brain which they scanned within 100 hours.
• * A study finds that the increasing probability of record week-long heat extremes occurrence depends on warming rate, rather than global warming level and provides projections.
• * A scientific review summarizes studies about long COVID.
• 28 July
• * The first direct observation of light from behind a black hole is reported, further confirming Einstein's theory of general relativity.
• * Metallic water is prepared for the first time in an ordinary Earth lab.
• * In an update to the World Scientists' Warning to Humanity#2019 warning on climate change and [2021 and 2022 updates|World Scientists' Warning to Humanity], scientists report that evidence of nearing or crossed tipping points of critical elements of the Earth system is accumulating, that 18 of 31 planetary vital signs have reached record values, that 1990 jurisdictions have formally emergency declaration|recognized a state of climate emergency], that frequent and accessible updates on the emergency are needed, that COVID-19 "green recovery" has been insufficient and that root-cause system changes above politics are required.
• 29 July - A study indicates gut microbiomes with large amounts of microbes capable of generating unique secondary bile acids are a key element of centenarians' longevity.
• 31 July - A kitchen robot – one of the first of its kind – for autonomous preparation of school meal program or delivery-service level amounts of discrete meals is demonstrated.

August

• 2 August - Engineers report the development of a prototype wave energy converter that is twice as efficient as similar existing experimental technologies, which could be a major step towards practical viability of tapping into the sustainable energy source.
• 4 August
• *Scientists identify genetic determinants of ovarian ageing and possible effects of extending fertility in women.
• *Scientists describe the molecular mechanisms by which insect olfactory systems are sensitive enough to recognize and discriminate a vast number of molecules with very few smell receptors.
• 5 August
• *New observations of the M-type star L 98-59 and its surrounding system reveal three new bodies: a planet in the habitable zone, an ocean world, and a planet with half the mass of Venus, making it the lightest exoplanet ever to be measured using the radial velocity method.
• *A study introduces an early-warning indicator for critical transitions of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation and finds early-warning signals in eight independent AMOC indices. A, possibly abrupt, likely irreversible collapse from the current strong to a weak mode is thought to have severe impacts on Earth system components and global climate. The Sixth IPCC report assesses a 'medium confidence' that such a collapse won't happen by 2100.
• 8 August - The National Ignition Facility achieves a 70% yield, compared to the laser energy required to sustain fusion, from inertial confinement fusion energy, an 8X improvement over previous experiments in spring 2021 and a 25X increase over the yields achieved in 2018.
• 9 August
• *The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change releases the first part of its Sixth Assessment Report, which summarizes the state of physical science on climate change based on over 14,000 papers and concludes that effects of human-caused climate change are now "widespread, rapid, and intensifying".
• *Neuroscientists show that transplantation of fecal microbiota from young donor mice into aged recipient mice substantially rejuvenates the brains of the latter, complementing similar results of a 2020 study.
• *A scientific review assesses the long-term effects of COVID-19, including in prevalent cases of long COVID.
• *A researcher reports that solar superstorms would cause global months-long Internet outages. She describes potential mitigation measures and exceptions – such as user-powered mesh networks, related peer-to-peer applications and new protocols – and the robustness of the current Internet infrastructure.
• 10 August
• *A study based on OSIRIS-REx data concludes there to be a 1:1750 chance of an impact of asteroid (101955) Bennu by 2300, with the highest chance of impact being in 2182.
• *A small-scale study suggests that persistent blood clotting is a cause of long COVID.
• 11 August - Researchers report promising results of ongoing testing and development of an engineered monoclonal antibodies based female contraception.
• 12 August - Scientists report that the Ayta Magbukun people in the Philippines have the highest level of Denisovan ancestry in the world and describe the related genetic history in the region.
• 13 August - Researchers demonstrate that probiotics can help coral reefs mitigate heat stress, indicating that such could make them more resilient to climate change and mitigate coral bleaching.
• 16 August
• *Scientists conclude that personal carbon allowances could be a component of climate change mitigation. They find that the economic recovery from COVID-19 and novel digital technology capacities open a window of opportunity for first implementations of such monetary/credit feedback and decreasing default levels of emissions concessions.
• *Researchers assess regionally-differentiated drivers and risks associated with worldwide pollinator decline, informing globally-relevant policy responses.
• 17 August - Scientists report of human brain organoids that could intrinsically develop eye-type sensory structures.
• 18 August - A study suggests that the global policy Montreal Protocol intended to control the production of ozone-depleting substances has also substantially mitigated climate change.
• 20 August - Medical scientists confirm that hormone irisin confers neurobiological effects of physical exercise and, when its circulating levels are increased, can be an exercise mimetic in mice which may be useful for interventions to improve cognitive function or alleviate Alzheimer's disease.
• 22 August - Astronomers conclude in a preprint that – controversially due to there being only few data points – there is high confidence "Planet 9" exists, that it likely has a mass of ~6.2 Earths and is closer than thought previously and report its likely orbit.

• 24 August
• *Cerebras announces a new hardware and software platform that can support AI models of 120 trillion parameters, enabling neural networks greater than the equivalent number of human brain synapses.
• *Researchers present a bioprinting method to produce steak-like cultured meat, composed of three types of bovine cell fibers.
• 26 August - Astronomers report a new class of habitable exoplanets, named hycean planets, which are described as hot, water-covered planets with a hydrogen-rich atmosphere that are possibly capable of harboring life.
• 27 August - Scientists report about vaccine effectiveness, pandemic severity impacts and regional prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant overall and its newly subdivided subvariants named from AY.1 onwards, the first two of which were differentiated like so – also termed "Delta Plus" – in June. On 10 August a preprint reports a case of asymptomatic transmissions associated with high viral load among vaccinated patients infected by AY.3.
• 28 August - The world's northernmost island, a small patch of land measuring 60 x 30 metres, is reported by scientists off the coast of Greenland. The name Qeqertaq Avannarleq is proposed, which means "the northernmost island" in Greenlandic.
• 30 August
• *The comprehensive 2021 ESC Guidelines on cardiovascular disease prevention is published. On 27 August the 2021 ESC Guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of acute and chronic heart failure is published.
• *A preprint study of nationwide data of Israel's vaccination programme finds a strong effect of waning immunity from the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine after 6 months.
• 31 August - Scientists report that the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum ~56 million years ago was directly preceded by volcanism and that data about the event supports the existence of substantial [Tipping points in the climate system|climate-shifting tipping points in the Earth system].

September

• 1 September
• * NASA reports the successful sampling of a rock on Mars, named "Rochette", after a less successful first attempt.
• * Scientists report the development of a new solar-energy passive off-grid chemically stored on-demand cooling system for houses and/or refrigeration without electrical components which may be useful for climate change mitigation and adaptation.

• 2 September
• * Observation of a new class of supernova triggered by a black hole or neutron star crashing into the core of a companion star is reported by astronomers, based on studies of an extremely luminous source of radio waves called VT 1210+4956.
• * Astronomers report the detection of peculiar radio waves from near the galactic center whose unidentified source could represent a new class of astronomical objects.
• *A study finds that outdoor air pollution is associated with substantially increased mortality "even at low pollution levels below the current European and North American standards and WHO guideline values". On 22 September, for the first time since 2005, the World Health Organization, after a systematic review of the accumulated evidence, adjusted their air quality guidelines whose adherence could save millions of lives, protect against future diseases and help meet climate goals.
• 3 September
• * Bioengineers report the development of a viable CRISPR [gene editing|CRISPR-Cas gene-editing] system, "CasMINI", that is about twice as compact as the commonly used Cas9 and Cas12a.
• * Researchers report that autoantibodies against one's own ACE2 enzymes, autoimmune disease, may be a cause of long COVID. Earlier studies suggested this may explain unusual pattern of organ damage by COVID-19.
• *Scientists report that the accelerated, higher-variability warming of the Arctic can cause extremely cold winter weather across parts of Asia and North America – including the February 2021 North American cold wave – via a, observed and modeled, stratospheric polar vortex disruption.
• 6 September – Experts report that one-third of all chondrichthyes fish species are threatened with extinction, mainly caused by overfishing.
• 8 September
• *Cysteamine, an antioxidant drug already approved for human use, is shown to reverse atherosclerosis, the process responsible for heart attacks and strokes, in mice.
• *Scientists provide the first scientific assessment of the minimum amount of fossil fuels that would need to be secured from extraction per region as well as globally, to allow for a 50% probability of limiting global warming by 2050 to 1.5 °C.
• *Scientists report that Earth is reflecting less light – a dimming of ~0.5% in reflectance over two decades may have both been co-caused by climate change as well as substantially increase global warming.
• 10 September
• *Scientists report what could be the discovery of the oldest rock art, likely dating back to ~169–226,000 years ago, much older than what was previously thought to be the earliest known drawing, made ~73,000 years ago. Children likely intentionally placed a series of hands and feet in mud. The findings could also be the earliest evidence of Hominins on the above 4000 m a.s.l. high Tibetan Plateau.
• *43 expert scientists publish the first scientific framework version that – via integration, review, clarifications and standardization – enables the evaluation of levels of protection of marine protected areas and can serve as a guide for improving, planning and monitoring marine protection-quality and -extents such as in efforts towards the 30%-protection-goal of the "Global Deal For Nature" and the UN's SDG 14.
• *The CDC reports that despite prevalence of the Delta variant people vaccinated against COVID-19 are ~11 times less likely to die from COVID-19, showing vaccines' effectiveness at preventing severe disease.

• 13 September - A scientific review concludes that accumulating data suggests dietary restriction – mainly intermittent fasting and caloric restriction – results in many of the same beneficial changes in adult humans as in studied organisms, potentially increasing health- and lifespan. A review published on 22 September provides an overview of DR as an intervention and develops a framework for a proposed field of "precision nutrigeroscience". A study published on 29 September identifies circadian-regulated autophagy as a critical contributor to intermittent time-restricted fasting-mediated lifespan extension in Drosophila and suggests that only certain forms of and/or combinations with intermittent fasting – intervals during which no food but only e.g. water and tea/coffee are ingested – may be effective beyond the benefits of healthy body weight.
• 15 September
• *Physicists report candidate dark energy particles, Sun-produced local environment-adjusted "chameleon particles", at the dark matter detector XENON1T experiment.
• *Scientists confirm that widespread phytoplankton blooms can be a feedback effect of wildfires. The climate change-exacerbated 2019–2020 Australian wildfires caused oceanic deposition of wildfire aerosols, enhancing marine productivity and thereby increased oceanic carbon dioxide uptake. A study using satellite data complements these findings, constraining the amount of CO₂ emissions of the fires from November 2019 to January 2020 to around 715 million tons.
• * Media outlets report that the world's first cultured coffee products have been created by two biotechnology companies, still awaiting regulatory approval for near-term commercialization. Such products, for which multiple companies' R&D have acquired substantial funding, may have equal or highly similar effects, composition and taste as natural products but use less water, generate less carbon emissions, require less labor and cause no deforestation.
• 16 September - Scientists report evidence of clothes being made 120,000 years ago based on findings in deposits in Morocco, a country in the northwestern part of Africa.
• 17 September
• * Scientists report that harmful algal blooms, which have been linked to deforestation, global warming and soil erosion, are proliferating in lakes and rivers around the globe. They add that such toxic algal blooms were a prominent feature of previous mass extinction events, in particular of the End-Permian Extinction.
• *Researchers report in a preprint the discovery of i.a. the so far closest known relative virus, with a 96.8% similarity, to SARS-CoV-2 in samples from wild horseshoe bats in northern Laos – 0.7% more similar than the virus RaTG13 discovered in China in 2013. Their findings indicate that, as of 2021, SARS-CoV-2-like viruses potentially infectious for humans circulate in bats in the Indochinese peninsula and that the pandemic virus may not originate from Wuhan. Other scientists complement these findings, reporting in a preprint published on 20 September, that they could not find any SARS-CoV-2 related viruses in any samples collected in China, including from the only two domestic caves where RaTG13 and RmYN02 were detected, indicating such viruses may currently not circulate in bats in the country.
• 22 September - Astronomers report the discovery of a nearby spherical structure, a 'superbubble', on the edges of which giant molecular clouds with regions of star formation are being formed, the Per-Tau Shell.
• 23 September
• *Scientists report the discovery of human footprints in the state of New Mexico that are understood to be ~23,000 years old, around the time of the last Ice Age.
• *Researchers report the world's first artificial synthesis of starch. The material essential for many products and the most common carbohydrate in human diets was made from CO₂ in a cell-free process and could reduce land, pesticide and water use as well as greenhouse gas emissions while increasing food security.
• *After commissioning two impact assessment studies and a technology analysis study, the European Commission proposes the implementation of a standardization – for versions of USB-C – of phone charger products, which may increase device-interoperability, convergence and convenience for consumers while decreasing resource-needs, redundancy and electronic waste.

• 24 September
• *Researchers conclude that projecting effects – such as regional inhabitability, human migration and food insecurity – of greenhouse gas emissions only for up to 2100, as widely practiced in research and policy-making, is short-sighted and model climate change scenarios for up to 2500.
• *Media outlets report that in Japan the first CRISPR-edited food has gone on public sale. Tomatoes were genetically modified for around five times the normal amount of possibly calming GABA. CRISPR was first applied in tomatoes in 2014.
• *Biomedical researchers demonstrate a switchable Yamanaka factors-reprogramming-based approach for regeneration of damaged heart without tumor-formation in mice.
• 26 September - Researchers estimate that children born in 2020 will experience 2–7 times as many extreme weather events, particularly heat waves, compared to people born in 1960 under current climate policy pledges over their lifetimes, raising issues of intergenerational equity.
• 27 September
• *Landsat 9, described as the world's most important satellite, is launched by NASA to study the Earth and its environment.
• *Biochemists and space scientists report that sunlight-, acidity- and water activity-levels in Venus' clouds may have the potential to support Earth-like phototrophy such as photosynthesis.
• 28 September
• *Medical scientists report that COVID-19 measures may have, apparently, caused the global extinction of the influenza B virus lineage B/Yamagata.
• *Pathogen researchers report the development of machine learning models for genome-based early detection and prioritization of high-risk potential zoonotic viruses in animals prior to spillover to humans. They conclude that their tool could be used for virus surveillance for pandemic prevention via measures of "early investigation and outbreak preparedness" and would have been capable of predicting SARS-CoV-2 as a high-risk strain.

October

• 1 October - A company conducting a preliminary small clinical trial launched a year ago reports that molnupiravir substantially reduced the risk of hospitalization and death from COVID-19.
• 4 October
• *The 2021 Nobel Prize in Medicine is awarded to David Julius and Ardem Patapoutian for their findings about how heat, cold and touch can initiate signals in the nervous system.
• *Metascientists report, based on a citation analysis, that "structures fostering disruptive scholarship and focusing attention on novel ideas" could be important as in a growing scientific field citation flows disproportionately consolidate to citing already well-cited papers, possibly slowing and inhibiting canonical progress.
• 5 October
• * The 2021 Nobel Prize in Physics is awarded to Syukuro Manabe, Klaus Hasselmann and Giorgio Parisi for their work on climate change, resulting from the role of humanity.
• 6 October
• * The 2021 Nobel Prize in Chemistry is awarded to Benjamin List and David W.C. MacMillan for their work in creating a tool to build molecules, that may be useful for studies on developing new drugs and reducing the effect of chemicals on the environment.
• * The WHO endorses the first malaria vaccine.
• * A study of data traffic by popular smartphones running variants of the Android software finds substantial by-default data collection and sharing with no opt-out and implications for users' privacy, control and security.
• * With 17 studies a consortium of MICrONS researchers concludes the first phase of a long-term project to generate an atlas of the entire mouse brain, releasing an atlas and census of cell types in the primary motor cortex.
• 7 October - Scientists show experimentally, with brain organoids grown from stem cells, how differences between humans and chimpanzees are also substantially caused by the 98% of DNA outside the protein-coding genes, often discarded as "junk DNA" – in particular via CRE-regulated expression of the ZNF558 gene for a transcription factor.
• 8 October - A new eco-friendly way of extracting and separating rare earth elements is described, using a bacteria-derived protein called lanmodulin, which binds easily to the metals.

• 11 October
• *Scientists report more precise dating of what appear to be the earliest bipedal footprints with hominin-like characteristics, the Trachilos footprints. They are found to be ~6.05 million years old, which is around the time of Orrorin – the previously earliest theorized species of Homininae until these footprints were controversially dated in 2017, despite being discovered outside of Africa in Crete, Greece. However, these apes are not necessarily associated with human evolution.
• *The pilot project of the "world's first automated, driverless train" is launched in the city of Hamburg, Germany. The conventional, standard-track, non-metro train technology could theoretically be implemented for rail transport worldwide and is reported to also be substantially more energy efficient.
• *Scientists project public health impacts, along with some of the environmental damage, of a, simulated, imminent Red Sea oil spill from the FSO Safer.
• 12 October - Scientists report that for 13,115 cities extreme heat exposure of a wet bulb globe temperature above 30 °C tripled between 1983 and 2016. It increased by ~50% when the population growth in these cities is not taken into account. Urban areas are often significantly warmer than surrounding rural areas.
• 13 October - Astronomers report the detection of hundreds of Fast Radio Bursts from a single system.
• 15 October - The first brain metabolome atlas of the mouse brain – and of an animal across different life stages – is released.
• 16 October
• *The [Lucy (spacecraft)|spacecraft Lucy] is launched by NASA, the first mission to explore the Trojan asteroids.
• *A comprehensive study by Scientists for Future concludes that nuclear fission energy cannot meaningfully contribute to climate change mitigation as it is "too dangerous, too expensive, and too sluggishly deployable" as well as "an obstacle to achieving the social-ecological transformation".
• 18 October - A study shows for the first time how immunity is inherited, via epigenetic changes, in mice.
• 19 October - Media outlets report about novel technologies for virtual try-ons of clothes for more sustainable fashion and improved online shopping, which increased relatively due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

• 20 October
• *Astronomers report the first evidence of a giant impact between two exoplanets, which occurred in the HD 172555 system, based on analysis of gas and dust concentrations.
• * Scientists report that, according to their analysis, today's domestic horses descend from the lower Volga-Don region, Russia. 273 ancient horse genomes further indicate that these populations replaced almost all local populations as they expanded rapidly throughout Eurasia from about 4200 years ago, that certain adaptations were strongly selected for by horse riding, and that equestrian material culture – including Sintashta spoke-wheeled chariots and in the case of Asia Indo-Iranian languages – spread alongside.
• * Researchers report on the first natural protein that, using lanmodulin, complexes actinium, a natural but radioactive element used in cancer therapy, alongside yttrium-90.
• 21 October
• * Medical researchers announce that on 25 September the first successful xenotransplantation of a genetically engineered pig kidney, along with the pig thymus gland to make the immune system recognize it as part of the body, to a brain-dead human with no immediate signs of rejection, moving the practice closer to clinical trials with living humans.
• * A study shows how COVID-19 may inflict long-term brain damage, including in cases of 'long COVID', via endothelial cell-death disrupting the blood–brain barrier.
• 22 October
• * Researchers describe and substantiate the hypothesis that a recent decrease in brain size "in the last 3,000 years" has resulted from externalization of knowledge and group decision-making, partly via social systems of distributed cognition and sharing of information. A study by Villmoare et al. (2022) that reanalyzes the used data refutes their findings. It concludes that "the samples need to be specific enough to test the hypothesis across different times and populations".
• *A study shows that mandatory face masks and social distancing can allow for relatively safe public transport during the COVID-19 pandemic, reducing infection rates by 93.5% and 98.1% in tracking-based simulations of common contemporary forms of public transport during congestion peak-hour.
• 25 October
• *Astronomers report, with two studies, that 'BLC1' does not appear to be a technosignature or extraterrestrial radio transmission because 15 similar observations were made between 2019 and 2020 that did not originate from around Proxima Centauri – and hence are likely results of forms of local radiofrequency interference – and propose a sequence of "verification checks for narrowband technosignature signals".
• *Another, clearer case of quantum advantage with Zuchongzhi is reported. A third study reported that Zuchongzhi 2.1 completed a task of classically simulating random circuit sampling that "is about 6 orders of magnitude more difficult than that of Sycamore".

• 27 October
• *Astronomers propose a "Confidence of Life Detection" scale for reporting evidence of life beyond Earth.
• *Astronomers report that the orbits of the detected exoplanets hosted by the star HD 3167 are unusual: two planets revolve around the poles of the star, whereas the third planet orbits around the equator of the star instead.
• *Researchers release a "policy sequencing" framework, in particular for policies of polycentric governance for completely halting and preventing deforestation based on data about already implemented government-designed policies, UN-decided Reducing emissions from [deforestation and forest degradation|REDD+] initiatives and voluntary private sector initiatives of recent deforestation interventions.
• *The world's first urban autonomous vessels, 'Roboats', are deployed in the canals of Amsterdam, Netherlands. The ships developed by three institutions could carry up to five people, collect waste, deliver goods, and provide "on-demand infrastructure".
• *A potentials-assessment study proposes hypothetical portable solar-powered atmospheric water harvesting devices which are under development, along with design criteria, finding they could help a billion people to access safe drinking water, albeit such off-the-grid generation may sometimes "undermine efforts to develop permanent piped infrastructure".
• 28 October
• *An open letter by scientists asks the WTO to eliminate increasing harmful fisheries subsidies.
• *One year after India and South Africa called on WTO to temporarily waive TRIPS vaccine patents for accelerated deployment of COVID-19 vaccines around the world, the WTO reportedly fails to find an accord for doing so. No mechanisms of alternative medical research and development incentive-systems or technical details of proposed "sharing" after certain amounts of profit were reported and some argue that, instead of intellectual property rights, manufacturing know-how is the main barrier to expanding capacity.
• *Scientists discover that up to about 20,000 metric tons of microplastics may be stored in coral skeletons worldwide every year, marking the first time that a living microplastic "sink", or long-term storage site, has been quantified.
• 30 October - A comprehensive review summarizes scientific research and data about health impacts of climate change.

November

• 1 November - Astronomers report detecting, in a "first-of-its-kind" process based on SAM instruments, organic molecules, including benzoic acid, ammonia and other related unknown compounds, on the planet Mars by the Curiosity rover.